Friday, October 27, 2006

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

Engle uses poetry to tell the story of Manzano, born a slave in Cuba in 1797. Manzano's first owner made him call her Mama; his second owner was sadistic. He did not have any type of formal education; but due to exposure to poetry and poets and his own thirst to learn, he became a poet.

Poetry is used to tell the story from various points of view, including Manzano's masters. This is a wrenching look at slavery; Manzano endures cruelty and torture, physical and mental. Despite this, Engle has Manzano's mother say:

God is goodand good is always more powerfulthan evilI don't knowwhy the devileven bothersto fight

Manzano realizes that at best, he is treated as a pet:

Can't he tell the difference between a princeand a poodle?

Upon being tortured:

For three days I am nowhereI do not existFor three more days I am somewherein pain

Slavery is shown to affect both slaves and slave owners; the sadistic owner, La Marquesa de Prado Ameno, grows angry at Manzano's knowledge of poetry:

Hateful boy, hateful versehow dare he make me rememberwhat if feels liketo want wordsmusical wordsto year and sigh and wish and prayfor a songof my own!

The title says biography; and my library catalogued it as a YA biography; but I'm inclined to say it's more fiction than non-fiction, although based on the historical record. At the end of the book is a brief note on Manzano's notes and some of his own poetry.

Engle is Cuban-American; her dedication is "to censored poets everywhere and to my hundreds of cousins in Cuba;" her acknowledgements include "I will always be thankful to a generous God, my patient family, and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, for giving me the peace of mind and the physical and intellectual freedom to write about Manzano's life and his poetry." While the First Amendment does not feature in the text itself, the parallel is there: Manzano had no rights, no freedoms; even his thoughts were not his own. Yet still he managed to create, to write, to dream, and to escape.

I have tried to write this post without being mad. Staying calm. Giving the benefit of the doubt. And no matter where I begin, I end the s...

Comments

Comments are great. They add to the conversation. But it's my blog, so I reserve the right to delete any comment. Reasons for deleting comments may include offensive or abusive language or behavior, spam, advertising, trolls, flaming, personal attacks and the like